55% Of Americans Say Cannabis Is Not Dangrous

Most US adults say that marijuana doesn’t pose significant dangers to either consumers or to society, according to nationwide polling data compiled by Rasmussen.

55% of respondents said that cannabis is either ‘not dangerous at all’ or ‘not very dangerous.’ Just 13% of respondents perceived marijuana as ‘very dangerous.’

Respondents who identified as Republicans were more likely than Democrats to say that cannabis posed significant risks. Republican respondents were also more likely to perceive cannabis to be a so-called ‘gateway’ drug – a finding that is consistent with prior polls.

Separate polling compiled last year by YouGov determined that most Americans believe that regular alcohol use is “more harmful to a person’s health” than the regular use of cannabis.

Data published in 2024 in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs found that adults are more than six times more likely to acknowledge having experienced secondhand harms, including marriage difficulties, physical harm, or financial difficulties, because of someone else’s drinking than because of someone else’s cannabis use.